Scripts

2. Script Types

2.3 Caroline Minuscule

Continental

The development of Caroline minuscule is the Frankish empire is
often described as one of the pinnacles in the history of western
script. Its relevance is shown, not only by the fact that this
style eventually reached most of Western Europe, but also that it
remains the basis for the typefaces we still use today. The
support given by Charlemagne (742-814) to scholarship and
education fostered the production and circulation of manuscripts
across his realm. In this context, Caroline minuscule became, or
rather it was implemented as, a single, unified writing style.
Its main features include an overall clarity, due to the
roundness of its forms, the uncial shape of a
and the absence of feet in minims such as m and
n.

Click here for an example of Continental Caroline
minuscule from a Southern French scriptorium (Bibliothèque
Municipale de Lyon, MS 481, s. x1). Please note the
simplicity of its minims (lack of feet in letterforms such as
m and n) as well as the absence
of hooks in e. (Opens in a new window)

English

Caroline minuscule was introduced into the Anglo-Saxon
scriptorium during the monastic reforms of the 950s. The arrival
of the continental script restricted the use of the earlier
Anglo-Saxon minuscule (during both its square and round phases)
to the vernacular texts, that is to say, texts in Old English
language. This implies that English scribes would have to master
the two scripts, especially when they were required to write
bilingual manuscripts or documents. Bilingual customaries (such
as the Rule of St Benedict or the Rule of
Chrodegang) and, more frequently, charters in which the
boundary clauses are in Old English whereas the main body and
witness-list are in Latin, provide us with valuable examples
where the same scribe shifts from one script to the other.

Here is a charter from 1044 [Exeter D&C, MS 2526] in which
the Anglo-Saxon scribe uses English Caroline (or Anglo-Caroline)
minuscule for the core of the document in Latin (the terms of the
transaction), Anglo-Saxon minuscule for the boundary clauses, and
Caroline again for the witness list. Note the presence of feet in
the English Caroline form of m and
n, unlike those in the continental example
above. Also, note the main differences between the forms of
a, e, g and
r in both scripts.

Click on the thumbnail to view the full page (opens a new
window).

Here is a clip of Prof Julia Crick (KCL) discussing the features
of the Anglo-Caroline script in Exeter, D&C MS
2526.

Transcription Practice

Click here to
transcribe a few lines from London, Senate House, MS 1019 (opens
a new window).